Heart Beat
by SteamingCoffee
Summary: When Annabeth's need for perfection goes a little too far, their drummer quits; leaving them to find a new member in only three weeks before they are to play at Olympus. When Thalia pulls in her cousin to take his place, Annabeth may change her tune-but for better or worse? Summary isn't fantastic, but please check it out! Constructive criticism is welcomed.
1. Chapter 1

When Fredrick Chase heard he was to expect a daughter, he was overjoyed. His own little girl-sweet as teacakes, happy as a songbird, delicate as a butterfly's wing, beautiful as a desert rose. He was ready for the challenge of boys and makeup and crop tops/short shorts. He was ready to raise his perfect little girl.

Sorry to disappoint.

Because I'm not silly enough to think you're actually interested in my backstory, I'll try to keep it to the point.

My name is Annabeth Chase. I am 16 years old. I love reading when I can, but mostly I love music. I play bass in a band called Olympian.

I have had one boyfriend, but I won't go into it... I'm not ready. Maybe another day.

My parents aren't around much, but I don't mind. More time to practice.

I attend Goode High School in New York, but I'm not happy about it. I've always felt different.

I am best friends with Thalia Grace, who is very fond of food and guitar.

My outfit of choice would be jeans and simple shirts, nothing too lacy or flowery-but not crew Neck cotton tees either. I am not big on makeup, but brown eyeliner was a must.

My blond hair had a bit of wave to it, but I kept it up to stay out of my face.

While I may be a bit obsessive about perfection, my life has turned out okay. I must be doing something right.

Right?

"Wrong. Second verse, third line. With the pickup" I called to my bandmates, squinting at my sheet music as my friends groaned in the background.

" _Annabeeeeth,"_ Luke complained, slumped on his snare drum. "It sounded _fine_." He added with an exasperated groan. His eyes locked with mine for a moment, and I felt the familiar chills.

Luke was an interesting kid. Pretty good drummer, football player (have to admit he was pretty good there), and most annoying kid to grace the face of planet earth. But he organized the band, so we couldn't necessarily kick him out. And honestly, I couldn't tell if he wanted to leave. At school, I practically had to make excuses to get away from him, but in band he seemed always angry with me. As I said, interesting.

"Great, but do you want to sound fine or do you want to sound good?" I said to him, scowling. I loved our band, but being a perfectionist made it hard to relax. Besides, we wouldn't be able to play at Olympus at this rate. "Thalia, even triplets and turn down your volume. Leo, nice job, but more dynamics. Piper, more confident towards the end of the chorus. And before you guys get started on me, I am aware that I played in the wrong key for the beginning of the bridge. Yes?" I caught my breath, then turned to Luke. "Your tempo is everywhere. Less sixteenth notes, it doesn't fit in swing. Fix that, add some more fills, and switch up your cymbals every once in a while. Okay?" I explained, trying to be as nice as I could. But from the look on his face, it wasn't working well. His blue eyes were cold and guarded; you'd think I insulted his mother. After about three seconds, he spoke again.

"Please quit it with the 'I'm the Queen of the Band' crap. Honestly, it's _obnoxious_." Luke spat. "If we are so terrible and you are just so _fantastic_ , why do we even bother?" His voice rose in volume and anger with every word. I sighed, absentmindedly adjusting my bass strap. I shouldn't have angered the guy with the pointy sticks.

"Luke, lose the drama queen act, alright? I just want it to be good-"

"If I'm not good enough, then fine." He stood up and shouldered his bag, glaring as he went. I was almost happy, but of course...

"Don't go! Annabeth didn't mean it, she's just on edge. You sounded really good," Piper gushed, trying to convince her crush not to leave. She played with the braid on the side of her head and pouted, leaning on Leo's piano as he rolled his eyes (Leo wasn't big on the Catellean ship, or as he referred to it; Puke).

I love Piper, I hated Piper in love. She got all... bleh. Quite frankly, that was just another upside to Luke leaving.

Piper was about to fake cry as Luke just looked confused and left my garage, slamming the door.

"Ughhhhhhh," Now Leo's complaining. God, we've complained more than played today. "Annie, hate to break it to you, but we need a drummer. Unless one of us could multitask singing so Piper could play piano so I could play drums, or Piper could learn drums, or-"

"No. We need a drummer." I said, thinking about a replacement. "Let's call it a day, ok? But let's have some fun with this," I added, watching them in confusion. "By next practice, which is three days from now, might I add-we all must have a drumming candidate. We vote for a drummer. Whoever's drummer is picked gets bragging rights."

"And $20," Thalia sleepily added from her beanbag, where she had been asleep for the past 20 minutes. "I know just who to pick."

"Great. See you guys Monday."

"Bye!"

"Adios."

"I'll just... five more minutes..."

Thalia.

~Drummer interviews~

Annabeth

Walking home, I tried to think of who to suggest. So it was 5:20 now, our next practice was 3:30 Monday, plenty of time. I knew only one person who may possibly play, as he seemed to play everything. I pulled out my phone and called him up. ( **AN I'm not saying their name on purpose, just so you guys aren't biased when voting. You can vote on my page!)**

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but I have a proposal."

"Before you continue, I am too young to get married," cue eye roll "and who is this?"

"Oh, uhh, Annabeth. See, my band is looking for a new drummer-"

"Thought Luke was your drummer?"

"Don't interrupt. He left. Do you play by chance?" I asked, biting my lip and bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"Yeah, two years. But if you need a Sax player, rhythm guitarist, accordionist, or pianist-I got you."

"Awesome, you don't need too much experience. As long as you can play, we are good."

"Well then, I hope I can join."

"Ill let you know. Call you back Monday."

After hanging up the very brief phone call, I began to worry. I hadn't asked nearly enough, what was his skill level? Genre of choice? Does he have a kit? Who knows, but he can play... And that's all we need right now. I continued the walk home with a skip in my step but a frown on my face, torn as to how this would turn out.

Thalia

Dude I have this in the bag. No further explanation required. I dialed him up, and he picked up on the second ring.

"Wassup"

"Thalia, I'm busy."

"Yeah? Well I am too, but I am taking the time to talk to you so you could at least return the favor."

I could practically hear him roll his eyes. "Whaddya need?"

"A drummer. Well, a replacement for Luke, but yeah-a drummer. You in?"

"Gonna need a bit more information."

"Fine." I said. "Luke is gone. Band needs drummer. You are drummer. You are good drummer. You wouldn't annoy the crap out of Annabeth. We would all thank the gods for a drummer who Annie doesn't glare at on a minutely basis. I'd give you $10. Ok? Ok. Thanks for helping, call you back Monday"

"Ah ah ah, I haven't agreed. Why me?"

"You've played in three bands. You have 6 years of experience. You have good taste. Call you Monday." I finished, and hung up. I am a rather to-the-point person, but this guy is going to be great, I know it. And I also know Annie wouldn't kill him, it's a win win situation. Smiling at my phone screen, I turned it off to practice my solo. ( **AN I need some song suggestions! I want this story to be interactive, so comment away.)**

Leo

The others thought they had the upper hand with their fancy players in fancy bands with actual group experience... But I had a secret weapon. A player so epic you would pass out just just watching her. A secret baller no one knew about because she was like a musical fox, slipping behind the trees and in and out of shrubbery, always one step ahead of the game-

-Sissy! :P

Yep, my sissy poo.

-Don't call me that :( now what's up

-want to play drums for our band? You're pretty decent

-thanks. Means a lot

-but seriously, you bring out the best in other players and your kit is SWEEET :D

-Leo I'm this close to punching you when I get home

-uhh fine but pleeeeeaasse I mean you have like three years of practice it's time to join a band

-ok. You owe me.

-yay :D I'll tell you Monday

-Bye

This will be great for her. She needs to break out of her shell, find some friends. I'm sure she'll get it. I'm sure.

Piper

I was actually very excited at the prospect of a new drummer. I've had a crush on this guy for a year, and now I'd finally have a chance to spend some time with him. Besides, my friends owe me after Luke left. Smiling to myself, I reached to my bedside table to retread our conversation.

-Heyy ;)

-Hey

-Would you be up for drumming in our band? It would be great to be able to hang out

-What band?

-Olympians... The one I've been in since I was 12?

-Ooooh. I mean I've only got four years, that ok?

-Yeah totally! :D

-Cool, I'd be up for it. When?

-I'll get back to you Monday.

-k

-Goodnight 3

-Night ;)

I've got this in the bag. Besides, my friends owe me. He's smart and kind and I just need a bit of time to get him to like me back...

 **AN So there's chapter one! Pretty short, and pretty to the point... I'm going to try to edit later. But I just wanted to dive in on this one. I actually have done a bit of writing, but my old account was deleted :(**

 **-PLEASE review it means the world-song suggestions would be awesome! I will make a point to reply to all reviews in my next update, hopefully on Thursday.**

 **if you have an account, please take the poll on my page to vote on who the new drummer should be!**

 **love you all 3**

 **Lizzie**


	2. Background -

Special thanks to

******* YerAWizard *****

my very first follower! You're awesome and never change.

Well hello and thanks for tuning in to the Annabeth Chase show. Tonight's episode: why I'm so messed up.

Some call me a tomboy, some say it's an act-like secretly I go home and change into pink ruffled dresses and dye my hair or something. I don't know. I always saw girliness as weakness. Caring about your appearance, being super emotional, being... Silly, almost.

You know the word hysteric? Like, when someone is freaking out, almost unreasonably? Yeah, well female hysteria was a recognized disorder for many years, often putting women in asylums for basically being... Too girly. Being overly flirtatious, faintness, irritability, shortness of breath. Basically every girl at our school during P.E.

So I decided I wouldn't be a girl, I would instead be a lady. A lady stays levelheaded in times of trouble and can take charge. A lady is respected as feminine but isn't treated differently for it. A lady dresses well but never over-the-top. She has manners but can still relax when need be.

The problem is, I wasn't a lady either.

My mother is a lady. People love her. I never hear her curse because she can convey a point without it. I never see her show cleavage or short skirts because she can look beautiful without it. I strived to be like her, but I fall short. I'm just little old Annabeth, confused and slightly annoyed.

The only time I ever felt like a lady was with Max Kim. We were only 14, but I still felt close to him in a way I hadn't with anyone else. He had warm brown eyes, short black hair, and was about an inch taller than me. Max would open doors and let me borrow his jacket and all that, but what I liked about him is that he didn't mind when I opened the door for him, or offered to pay. "You agreed to go out with me, you've done enough," He would say with a laugh when I would try to argue about him picking up the tab. I felt like it was more together, less like he was taking care of me and more like we were watching out for each other. We would watch stupid movies and critique the cinematography, he'd call me at 11:30 to say goodnight and make sure I wasn't staying up. I loved him, even though we were pretty young to be thinking about that.

I wonder if he still thinks about me.

Midway through freshman year, Max told me he was moving back to Korea.

I didn't cry, I didn't break down, I didn't feel anything. It felt surreal until I watched him board the plane, knowing I'd never see him again-knowing it was too late-when all the emotions flooded my system. I'd never felt so alone. It was that moment that I decided that relationships are stupid, that We would just end up breaking up and hurting each other. I can wait until I'm 25, when I'm free to do whatever, when I don't have to sneak around my parents or anything.

I went into hysteria, as the old doctors called it. And I felt vulnerable, weak. I felt like a silly little girl, and I hated it.

I still hate it.

So now I'm left as somewhere in between. I don't feel like a girly girl, I am not emotionally controlled enough to be a lady, and I'm not masculine enough to be a tomboy. These are just random thoughts of mine, if you don't follow I understand. Just giving you a bit of background as to why I would flip out about the new member of the band... But we'll get there. All in good time.

AN **Thanks for reading! I'm so excited for this story, I am shooting for three reviews on this chapter. And might I say FOUR FOLLOWS AND THREE FAVORITES ALREADY? I am quite happy. Though reading reviews really does make me so so happy! Maybe I'll tell you guys the name of the account I'm currently locked out of if we make our review goal ;) I'll admit, Lizzie is a pen name as well. Maybe when I get more comfy on here I'll come clean :P**

 **leave any questions in the comments! Until Monday**

Love, Lizzie

8/19/16


	3. New drummer -

_**Chapter dedicated to**_

 _ **PurplePirateofProcrastination: You'll just have to wait and see ;) and I will continue as long as you guys read all this, it means a lot :)**_

 ** _Also, thank you to the guest reviewer who let me know about he issues with previous chapter three! Hopefully it doesn't glitch this time ;)_**

Monday's meeting started off fine. The usual yelling and hitting ensued, as expected, but by the time everyone had calmed down we got a lot done.

"Okay, let's be serious. We need Luke's replacement to come, learn the songs, and get his or her part down in a month. That's a lot to handle." Piper said, as we all nodded in agreement. "First order of business; did everyone actually _find_ a drummer?" We all laughed and confirmed. "Okay, all that's left to do is make your case for your candidate anonymously and we will choose among them. May I start?" She asked.

"Go ahead, ladies first." Leo said, making a gesture like let's-get-to-me-faster. Piper rolled her eyes and reclined in her folding chair.

"My drummer has been playing three years. They have a good hold on more classical elements, they know their rudiments and all, but he also is really personable. And cute." She added thoughtfully.

"Gag meeee," Thalia groaned from her perch on the workbench. "What music does he like? What does he play? Any additional instruments? How's his kit? When is he free? Those are important questions. I couldn't care less if he's cute." Thalia concluded with crossed arms. Piper looked like she was trying hard not to punch Thalia, but after a moment she regained her composure and started in.

"He listens to classic rock. Nothing too offbeat, just the classics-Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stomes, Beatles. That's what he plays best. He can't play anything else, but he has a pretty nice kit. It's not too fancy, but it works. We would need to move some stuff around to get him to rehearsal, he can make Tuesdays from 5-7 and Sunday afternoons." Piper explained, quieting down at the end.

"Nice. My turn!" Leo announced.

"So much for ladies first," I muttered.

"Actually, I should have gone first, because my nominee is a lady." Leo speculated, glancing at me and pushing the black curls out of his face. "She's awesome. Pretty good experience. she's best at not being the center of attention, but complimenting others. Great stylistic fills, awesome equipment, tons of dodads on her set. Likes softer rock and alternative, as well as R&B and Motown. And she's always free, 'cept Saturday." Leo concluded, and reclined with hands behind his head, as if he'd obviously won.

"You haven't won yet, buddy."

"Yes I have-"

"I don't care. My turn." I interrupted. "Multi instrumental, good drummer, decent kit. He likes alternative and newer stuff, not quite pop though. Free all the time. A little socially awkward, but it's endearing. I rest my case, I win."

"No you d-"

"Shut up Leo."

"Guys," Thalia started with a smirk. "I'm afraid I've already won." We all looked at her, confused. She merely looked at the ceiling and casually listed off, "Seven years experience, likes a variety of music, mostly rock though. He can adapt well. Both classically trained and experienced in a rock band setting. Pretty sweet kit, but he has to buy all his own equipment-so it's not a lot. But he's still a fantastic musician. Free all days but Thursday." She finished, and made eye contact with each of us individually, as if to say 'top that'.

We were all pretty impressed.

"Excluding my own guy, my first choice is Thalia's, then Leo's, then Piper's." I said.

"Thalia's, Annie's, Piper's."

"Annabeth's, Leo's, Pipers."

"Wait guys. I can't do this." Piper announced, looking flustered. "I really liked Luke. I think I may have had a shot with him. I mean, he texted me a few weeks ago saying that he only puts up with Annie because I was there too."

"Hey!"

"In any event, now I have no regular meetings with him. I've probably lost him to some other girl by now. And quite frankly, you guys told him to go, you're the reason why this happened. I'm not that upset, but I think I really have a chance with this guy. Please." Piper begged, looking at us for sympathy.

"Piper," I said softly, "I'm sorry. Your guy just doesn't seem cut out to be a band member. We can't all drop our schedules to accommodate his, and Thalia's person sounds so promising."

"I can't believe this-"

"Piper, this is a band. We have to think of the music first. And if this guy doesn't work out, then fine. We'll get your guy. And who knows," I smiled smugly at her, "maybe Thalia's pick is even hotter."

Piper smiled. "You better hope he's either Prince Charming or a horrible drummer so we can kick him out."

Finally Thalia came out of a shock I hadn't known she was in. "I can't believe this!" She said, covering her ears. "Eeeeew!"

"What?" I asked.

"My nominee... Percy Jackson... My _cousin_." She groaned, "Just hearing you call him hot is weird."

"Your cousin?" I laughed, "Interesting."

"Can I see a picture?" Piper said, probably still clinging to the idea that he was of godly beauty.

"Here," Thalia unlocked her phone and went to her contacts. "That's him."

The boy Thalia showed us looked nothing like her. In the picture of them next to each other, her cousin was even taller than her at 5'10, and his tan skin and bright smile contrasted her moderately pale skin and grimace at him resting his arm on her head. It was quite funny.

"Annieee!" Piper squealed happily, "He is sooooo hot, gods..." She drifted off for a few moments and then feigned sadness. "Fine, he can be part of the band." She looked dramatically upward, and melodramatically reached for the ceiling, "I'll never forget you, Jason!"

"Jason Grace? My brother? Do you like have a thing for my relatives or something, this is getting creepy." Thalia sounded disgusted.

"yeah..."

"DUDE-"

"So Percy it is, then?" Leo butted in.

"Yes. First Percy rehearsal, Wednesday. That kid better have his stuff together." I added, looking at Thalia like please-don't-let-this-kid-be-horrid.

"I wanted to add something." Thalia said, and turned to me. "You know why Luke got so mad when you criticized him, right?" I shook my head. "He had a massive crush on you. Massive. He acts like you're his girlfriend at school, and then gets all mad at practice because in reality, you aren't. But Piper was always there to break his ego's fall, so he warmed up to her. Idk but I think this isn't over between you and him. Dramatic speech over."

"I don't care at this point. At least for now, he's out of our lives. So, Wednesday?"

I arrived home around 8, just enough time to finish homework and studying. My parents are gone on some romantic getaway for the next week, so I am home alone for a few days. I can't say that I mind, less people to deal with. I can just go about my business without having to text my parents every two minutes. I manage to hack through history and conquer my calculus, and the rest I had done in class. I planned ahead for rehearsal.

I pulled out my phone and logged onto Instagram, searching "Percy Jackson". I'm fine with admitting to stalking, we all do it.

I found his account, knowing it was correct because it said "followed by ". Unless Thalia follows all Percy Jacksons on the Internet.

He had a considerable number of followers, and some nice pictures. Swimming, drumming, all that. A few with Thalia. What really confused my was his bio.

"just keep swimming -dory"

 **AN: So that's that! - _Please read_ -**

 **Guys pleeeeaasseee review it means the world and maybe I just set my hopes too high but I am shooting for 7 reviews before the next update. Feedback is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! Shoutouts in next chappie.**

 **In other news; we have gained a follower! Welcome to the fam.**

 **Sorry if this is short or poorly written, I just wanted to do a few updates in a row to get people started in on this before they have too much catching up to do, if that makes sense...**

 **Goodnight!**

 **Love you all,**

 **Lizzie**

8/22/16


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